The Michigan State Spartans are quietly moving up the rankings in the national polls and will look to extend their winning streak to three games when they take on the struggling Wisconsin Badgers for the first of two meetings this season. After getting tripped up at home to rival Michigan on January 13th, the Spartans have easily won their last two games over Indiana and Illinois, while the Badgers have lost four of their last five games including an 18-point loss to Iowa on Tuesday. Wisconsin’s success hinges on the play of Ethan Happ, who leads the team in scoring (16.9 points), rebounding (8.6), assists (3.8) and field-goal percentage (56.4). Freshman guard Brad Davison is the only other double-digit scorer the Badgers have at 11.8 points, but Khalil Iverson has averaged 15 points and 3.5 assists over his last two games. Wisconsin’s offense could have a tough time keeping up with a Michigan State squad that averages 85.3 points and has five double-figure scorers in its starting lineup. Miles Bridges (17.7 points, 7.3 rebounds), Nick Ward (14.1, 7.5) and Jaren Jackson Jr. (11.9, 6.4, 3.4 blocks) make up one of the best frontcourts in the country and play extremely well defensively as well.

The Badgers have issues stopping teams from scoring inside, and that could be a huge problem against Michigan State. Wisconsin does have a pair of 6’10” players in Happ and Nate Reuvers in the starting lineup, but Iowa was able to score 44 points in the paint on 84.6% shooting (22-for-26), with eight different players recording a basket in the paint. The Badgers have recorded 71 blocked shots as a team – the same number as the Spartans’ Jackson has on his own. Guard Brevin Pritzl is finding his shooting touch, recording double figures in points in five of his last seven games while averaging 11.5 over that span.

Michigan State has covered the spread in 8 of the last 10 meetings.

If the Spartans could hold onto the ball better, they may be side-by-side with Purdue at the top of the Big Ten standings. Michigan State committed a season-high 25 turnovers in the win over Illinois – which only was offset by the team’s 68.2% shooting. Point guard Cassius Winston had the hardest night against the Fighting Illini’s press defense, turning over the ball eight times. The Spartans still have time to work on the ball-handling and their 14.4 turnovers per game, which ranks 12th in the Big Ten. Michigan State ranks No. 1 in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (35.3%), blocked shots per game (8.0) and rebound margin (+12.1).